Schubert, part 2

This continues last week's post with further examples of the treatment of ^6 and the dominant ninth harmony in Schubert's waltz collections, D365 (1821) and D779 (1825).

D779n30. The ninth first appears in the pickup to bar 5, then is repeated as part of a simple arpeggio (notably without ^7) and is easily heard to resolve as ^6-^5 over I in bar 6.

D365_n12. We hear V9 unequivocally in bar 2, but there is no ^5 in bar 3 (we would have to imagine it). But there is no doubt in bars 6-7, where the figure is repeated an octave higher and the ninth resolves on the strong beat of bar 7. Note that the second inversion of I counts as a harmony for resolution of the ninth -- Schubert was quite fond of dominant pedal points, especially in his early Laendler, and he put all sorts of melodic figures above them.

D779n17. A textbook case of a true V9 harmony resolving directly, with a 6-5 figure over I.

D779n2. Almost identical to the preceding, except that the V9 is more strongly defined.

D365_n30. Like the above, and repeated on the dominant level at the beginning of the second strain.

D779n20. Like the above.

Schubert, part 1

In an earlier post, I observed that "one can easily find all seven types of the dominant ninth in the waltzes of Schubert alone." Schubert, therefore, deserves to be an early entry in the repertoire documentation that is the main goal of this blog. The examples below are drawn from the Original-Tänze, D365, and the Valses sentimentales, D779. Both are miscellaneous collections of dances, D365 published in 1821, and D779 in 1825. Most have their origins in music improvised for social dancing. The dances are in both Deutscher (German dance) and Laendler style--sometimes both in the different strains of the same piece. The Laendler style dominates in D365, whereas D779 is much more mixed.

This is n3 in the Valses sentimentales, D779 (1825). Apologies for all the boxes—the examples for D365 come from an essay of mine on the sixth scale degree, Scale Degree ^6 in the 19th Century: Ländler and Waltzes from Schubert to Herbert (link). Here the impetus to ascent is as strong as it could be. A direct resolution within V in bar 5 is followed by a remarkable "one note too far" at the end of the long ascent over the strain.

D779n3, second strain. The ^6 in bar 7 (arrow) is somewhat like the preceding—an expressive element within the V harmony—but without the dramatic emphasis, to be sure. The question marks over B5 in bars 1 and 5 indicate the uncertain status of that note: on beat 1, is it a ninth; or is it part of a complicated neighbor figure; or is it a ninth that resolves within the chord to A5 on beat 3? Any of those explanations is plausible.

D365n13:

D779n2: Once again the ninth receives attention: E5 is on the downbeat of bar 3. It resolves immediately to D5. The fourth note in the bar, another E5, is a simple escape tone.

This is the second strain of D779, n14. Despite its resolutions into the underlying V7 chord in bars 6-7, the ninth is an essential element of the sound of these two bars.

D365n2, the best known of Schubert's waltzes in the 1820s and for several decades thereafter. Similarly to the preceding examples, F5 in bars 5 and 7 resolves within the V harmony but is given strong melodic emphasis that lingers as part of the sound. The figure also mimics earlier accented notes--see the various circled notes.

D365n31. What was said just above--about lingering as part of the sound--is even more true here, where Schubert gives emphatic attention to the V9 sound in bars 2 & 6 (boxed) and also to ^6 above I in bar 4.

Post continues on Monday next week.

Duration and sound, part 2

In a recent post (link) I wrote about the impact of duration and metric position on the definition of the dominant ninth chord. This post continues that discussion.

The seven categories I identified—the list is reproduced below—follow a trajectory from melodic to harmonic; that is, the ninth as a plainly melodic feature (1.0 and 1.1) to the presentation of V9 as a harmony with a direct resolution of the ninth into the fifth of the tonic triad or into ^6 over the tonic (2.3). I don't pretend that these categories have cleanly defined "edges" and are therefore ready labels for any possible example. Instead, they are better thought of as ranges on a continuum whose points would represent individual instances in the repertoire of 19th century music. The examples below the list illustrate.

1. Internal resolution (within the V chord)
    1.0. Element of melodic shape (step)
    1.1. Element of melodic shape (leap, off the beat)
    1.2. Element of chord, weak beat
    1.3. Element of chord, strong beat
2. External resolution (to the following chord, usually I)
    2.1. Indirect resolution to ^5
    2.2. Indirect resolution to ^6
    2.3. Direct resolution to ^5 or ^6

A first set of examples for the seven categories above:

1. Internal resolution (within the V chord)
1.0. Element of melodic shape (step)

1-0_Mozart_German Dances, K600n1trio. String parts only. Simple passing tones.

1-0_Mozart_German Dances, K605n3. String parts only. Simple passing tones, but on the beat. No effect on the underlying harmony.

1.1. Element of melodic shape (leap, off the beat)
1-1_Schubert, D779n5. The leap hints at arpeggiation -- more than hints in this context, where fifth leaps are ubiquitous. Although ^6 resolves immediately in bar 7, in bar 3 one hears it more easily as a delayed resolution to the next bar (category 2.1) and thus the entire bar could be regarded as a V9 harmony.

1.2. Element of chord, weak beat
1-2_Johann Strauss jr_op7 n1. The decorative "Laendler leap" dominates the melody here (see bars 2-4 and bar 8) and thus it is not a surprise to hear it in bar 6 as well, going past B5 to C#6.

1.3. Element of chord, strong beat
1-3_Josef Lanner_Pesther Walzer, op.093_n2. Here the sound of the dominant ninth is strong, but so is the figure of the appoggiatura/incomplete neighbor. I would not label bar two, in part or whole, as a V9. On the same grounds, I would not read bar 5 as Iadd6.  Notice at the end consequences of the expressive lifts throughout the strain: an ascending figure in the cadence.

2. External resolution (to the following chord, usually I)
2.1. Indirect resolution to ^5
2-1_Johann Strauss, jr_polka_op236, trio. One of the clearest examples of this figure I could find.

2.2. Indirect resolution to ^6
2-2_Schubert, D365_n1. The ^6 in bar 3 links back to and confirms the significance of ^6 on the strong beat of bar 1. In this case, I could hear bars 1 & 2 as Ab: V9.

2.3. Direct resolution to ^5 or ^6
The opening of the Act II Prelude in Wagner's Tannhäuser. No doubt about this one!

2-3_Schubert, D365_n13. A better case even than for D365n1 above.

As the two Schubert examples show, it is by no means uncommon to repeat ^6 at the moment of tonic resolution, in order to create a link back to the ninth of the V9 chord. Here it is in the third waltz from Johann Strauss, jr.'s Künstlerleben [Artist's Life], op. 316.

Reference: Richard Beyer, "Bemerkungen zu den Nonenakkord," Musiktheorie 11/2 (1996): 91-110.  Page 102 for the Tannhäuser example.